William m



W. M. SMITH. .Sewing Machine.

Patented Dec. 14,1880.

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WILLIAM M. SMITH, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENT, TO C. E. L. HOLMES, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

SEWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 235,579, dated December 14, 1880.

Application filed January 15, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM M. SMITH, of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Sewing-Machines, of which the following is the specification. `1`

My invention relates to machines for sewing, overseaming, and embroidering; and it consists of certain mechanism combined with the overhan gin g stationary arm and reciprocating needle-bar of "a sewing-machine, as fully described hereinafter, whereby the needle may be moved in different directions and the movements regulated to change the positions of the stitches.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure l is a perspective view of sufficient of a Singer sewing-machine to illustrate my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are detached views, showing the cam for operating the vibrating needle-carrier 5 Fig. 4,a plan, partly in section, of the said cam and adjacent parts Fig. 5, a'perspective view of the needle-carrier and attachments; Fig. 6, a perspective view, showing the lower end of the needle-bar and attachment; Fig. 7, a perspective view of the guide-piu used with the cam 5 Fig. 8, a diagram illustrating the adjustment of the stitch.

A represents the head, and'A the stationary arm, of a sewing-machine; 7B, the main or driving shaft, operating to give a vertical reciprocation to the needle-bar C. These parts are similar to those in al Singer sewing-machine, in which the lower thread is carried by a shuttle reciprocating in a fixed race. The needle o is not directly attached to the said bar C, but is secured by the screw e in the head e of a lever, E, pivoted at e2 to abracket, C', fastened by a screw, c, to the end of the needle-bar C. The latter is shown as cut away or recessed at c2, and formed with a convex side or face, o3, in said recess, which receives and bears against a corresponding concave face or side, e3, on the head e' of said lever E, thereby forming guides to give steadiness of movement to the lever EA as it vibrates from side to side.

E' is a guide-post arising from the end of the lever E, as shown. Said guide-post enters and vertically reciprocates in the bifurcated end f of the lever F, which is pivoted at j" to the head of the machine, and is provided with a curved slot, f2. The bifurcated end. f

`of said lever F also acts as a presser-arm to 4move said guide-post E from side to side to `v1brate the needle-carrying lever E when the .which passes through the curved slot f2 of le- `ver F, and is provided with an adjusting-nut, g2, by means of which the end of said rod can `be raised or lowered and held secured at any desired position in said slot to alter or vary the amount of the lateral vibration ofthe needle to increase or decrease. the length of the lateral stitch. The other end of said bar G is slotted at g3, and is secured to a slide, H,`

by attaching said slotted end g3 onto the screw h. Said slide H dovetails into a bracket, I, fastened to the arm A of the machine by screws t' t'. Said bracket is provided with a pin, i2, and is slotted at i', as is also the arm A at a, for the passage of a stud, 71.', attached `to or formed on the slide H. Said stud is constructed with an opening for the reception of the shank k of a guide-pin, K, which is formed with a shoulder, k', and a head, 7a2, made of a double-wedge or oval shape, having a thick central part, 7c3, and pointed ends 704 1764. The head k2 of said guide-pin K projects beyond the inner wall of the arm A and enters one of the two grooves l l formed on the face of the cam-cylinder L, secured to, the shaft B. Said grooves are plain straight grooves running round said pulley for about three-quarters of its periphery, when they then cross or intersect each other, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, thereby forming cam-grooves Z2 Z3, unitingthe grooves Z l', which have the effect, as the cylinder L revolves, of guiding the head la? of the pin K from one straight groove to the other, thereby moving said head from side to side and reciprocating the slide H the length of the distance that the grooves' are apart.

It will be seen that the lever E and its apl pliances may be'attached to the needle-bar() of an ordinary sewing-machine with but little alteration of said needle-bar; that the lever F may be secured to the head of the machine by simply drilling` a hole to receive the pivot j",- that the cam-cylinder L may be bolted directly on the drivin g-shaft, and the bracket I applied after cutting the slot a in the arm. The devices are thus constructed for ready attachment to machines of a certain common construction without any radical change or alteration other than an ordinary mechanic can make in a short time at little expense.

r)The operation is substantially as follows: All of said parts being attached to a sewingmachine, as shown, the shaft B bein g revolved, the needle-bar C and needle-carryin g lever E are reciprocated vertically, the post E moving up and down in the bifurcated end ot' the lever -F. On the ascent of the needle the head K2 of the guide-pin K passes through one of the straight grooves l Z until the needle has nearly completed its ascent; but before doing so said head k2 enters one of the cam-grooves Z2 Z3, and is thereby moved from side to side, passing` out ot' groove Z into the groove l', or vice versa, thereby reciprocating the slide H and moving the rod G -forward or backward, oscillating the lever F either to the right or to the left, as shown in dotted lines 1 1, Fig. 1. As said lever F oscillates the bifurcated end f moves the guide-post E from side to side, thereby vibrating the needle-carrying lever E on its pivotal connection (to reciprocate the needle c to make a lateral stitch) in the direction shown in dotted lines 2 2 ot' Fig. l. 1" e needle then descends in adifferent planefrom thatl in which it ascended. When the needle again ascends the head 7a2 is reversely moved by the grooved cylinder, thereby reversing the movement ot' the slide H, rod G, lever F, post E', and needle-carrying lever E, to move the needle back to the inst-described position or plane, and the lateral stitch is completed. The movements of said parts are so timed that the head 7a2 will not be reciprocated until the needle has nearly completed its ascent, when the lower part ofthe guide-post E is then well up within the forks ofthe lever F, at which position said post can be more steadily and easily moved to vibrate the needle-carrying arm E without straining the same.

To vary the length ot' the stitch the end ot' lthe rod G is moved up or down in the slotf2.

To shorten the stitch the end of the rod is raised to the upper part of said slot 5 if depressed toward the lower part of the slot, the stitch is lengthened.

If at any time the attachnientis not desired to be used, by lifting and removing the slotted end g3 from the screw h and securing1 it on the pin i? of the bracket I, as shown by dotted lines, Fig. 1, the rod G will be disengaged from the slide H, and the needle will then be vertically reciprocated only, as in the ordinary sewing-machine, the needle being held iXedly in position for that purpose by reason ot' the slotted end g3 of the bar G being immovably secured to the stationary pin 2. By unscrewing the thumb-screw g2 and slipping the rear end ot' the rod G off of the screw 7L and turning the section G of said rod to the right or left, said sections G G2 are adjusted to increase or decrease the length of the rod G, which, when again connected to tlielever F, has the ett'ect ot' altering the angle of'inclination of the same without necessarily varying the length ofthe stitch. Said variation in its inclination is communicated to the post E', thence to the needlecarrying lever E, andthe needle is thereby shifted so that it will sew close up to the edges of the button-hole or fabric to be overseamed. Thus, t'orinstance, iftheparts oftheattachment are so adjusted that the needle has been making a stitch ot' the length shown at 1 1, Fig. S, and the rod G is adjusted in the slot f2 to increase the length of said stitch to the size indicated by line 2 2 in said gure, this increase would be equally distributed on both sides ot' the center ot' the length of said stitch or of the center ot vibration pf the needle, and the latter would make one of its descents in the middle ofthe opening of the button-hole, as shown, thereby forminga much larger threadloop than is required to bind the'edge ot the button-hole.

If, now, the rod G be shortened, as described, the upper end of the lever F will by such action be slightly moved toward the rear of the machine, varying its angle of inclination and moving` the guide-post E to shift the needle-carrying lever E, thereby moving the needle toward the edge of the button-hole, so that it will reciprocate in one of its vertical planes adjacent to the said edge, as indicated by lines 3 3 of Fig. 8, thereby avoiding the unnecessary length of thread-loop to bind said edges and obtaining a greater hold upon the cloth. If, however, the length of the stitch is varied so as to be less than that shown by lines 1 1, Fig. 8, the needle would then pierce the cloth in both of its descents; hence the rod G must in such cases be lengthened, thereby moving the upper end of the lever F outward to alter the angle of inclination of said ilever to the reverse of that already described,

so as to shift the needle toward the edge of the button-hole, as indicated by line 4 4, Fig. 8.

By altering the length of the rod the stitch IOO IIO

IIS

may be thrown to either edge of the buttonhole without dismemloering the machine.

It' desired, two or more needles may be einployed, as shown in Fig. 5.

I do not limit myself to the described mode ot' carrying the needle, as any other may be used. For instance, the needle-bar may be reciprocated back and forth as well as vertically.

I am aware that with a needle having invariable horizontal and vertical reciprocating movements a supplemental needle has been combined, and that devices have been used for adjusting the supplemental needle to and from the rst, but it will be apparent that in such case the width ofthe stitches cannot be varied, and that the working -position of the needle,

deriving its movements from the horizontal zontal reoiprocation may be Varied, substanreciprocatiug devices, cannot be altered. tially as and for the purpose set forth.

I claim- In testimony whereof I have signed my naine The combination, in au overseamiug-ma to this specification in the presence of two sub- 5 chine, of a shuttle, a xed race, a needle, describing` witnesses. y

vices for reciprocating the needle vertically and horizontally7 appliances, substantially as WM' M SMITH' described and shown, whereby the horizontal Witnesses: Working position of the needle maybe altered, J. DANIEL EBY, ro `and devices whereby the extent of its hori- S. LLOYD NVIEGAND. 

